Reflections of a multidimensional sunbaked servant of the Most High. Powered by Loveforce. Emitting Soulforce.

Monday, December 1, 2014

PROTECTING NATURE

OFF THE WALL 6/8

What have the Laughing Samoans got to do with Sailing
Fijians?

That would have been the question in many minds as the
Laughing Samoans performed their “Fresh of Da Blane” show to sold out audiences
in Nadi and Suva last weekend. The show was organised as a joint project of
WOWS Kids Fiji and the Uto Ni Yalo Trust.

Speaking before Friday night’s show, the Uto Ni Yalo
Trust’s president, Ratu Manoa Rasigatale said, “Uto Ni Yalo Trust are deeply
appreciative of the work of WOWS over the past years in raising funds to
support children with cancer around the Pacific. In this regard, the Trust is
honoured to be able to partner with WOWS Kids Fiji and present the Laughing
Samoans “Fresh of Da Blane” tonight.”

He also added, “I think the Laughing Samoans wanted to
call the show “Fresh of Da Boat” but were worried that we might force them to
jump of the Uto Ni Yalo.”

In Suva, before the concert, a short film was screened
about “MUA: Guided by Nature,” the upcoming voyage in which the Uto Ni Yalo and
canoes and crews from Aotearoa/NZ, Cook Islands, Samoa and Tonga will take the
message of the Pacific people to the IUCN World Parks Congress in Sydney in
November.

The fact that the message about the importance and value
we place on natural places is being taken across the ocean by traditionally
sailed and navigated canoes is significant.

Across the Pacific, the voyaging canoe is said to
represent genealogy. Pacific Islanders trace their origins to certain canoes,
for each is a sacred and living treasure that connects people to their
ancestry. The canoe is origin and possibility, heritage and story, and a
poetic, powerful metaphor of planet Earth, reminding us that we are an island
of finite resources, floating in the sea of space. As she voyages, the canoe
embodies harmony, teamwork, respect and seeking new horizons.

As an oceanic people, Pacific Islanders have a history of
navigating without instruments across vast distances to discover far-flung
islands. They sailed by acute observation, educated intuition and intricate
observation of the stars, sun, moon, wildlife and ocean swells. They were
attuned to the

world around, constantly noticing the shape of the sea
and the character of light through the clouds. This art of celestial navigation
requires us to listen to nature as our guide and contains powerful lessons for
the present and future.

Today we continue to voyage, recognizing the Earth as a
planet of limited resources and our only home. In September this year the Uto
Ni Yalo will join three other traditional canoes (Drua) to embark on a 6,000
nautical mile voyage navigating by the stars, before sailing into Sydney
Harbour in time for the 6th World Parks Congress .

Recognizing the importance of our large ocean, our unique
island spaces and their global value in a climate changing world, the Druas will carry a message from the
people of the Pacific Islands to the World Parks Congress. With sails hoisted
high as resolute flags in a troubled world, the Druas will amplify the region’s call for extraordinary commitment
to manage our oceans and demand greater action from the rest of the world on
climate change.

A number of Pacific Island leaders have, and continue to
make a stand pledging millions of square kilometres toward protected marine
areas while our communities drive local actions that secure and sustain
livelihoods. In June this year, Anote Tong, the president of Kiribati —a chain
of islands about halfway between Hawaii and Fiji—announced that commercial
fishing will end in the country's Phoenix Islands Protected Area on January 1, 2015.

"We will also close the area around the southern
Line Islands to commercial fishing to
allow the area to recover," said Tong, who spoke at the Our Ocean conference hosted by the U.S. State
Department in Washington, D.C. The southern Line Islands also will be closed to
fishing by the beginning of next year.

At the start of the 20th century, there were only a
handful of protected areas in the world, although many have existed for
generations. Over time they have been recognised as a mainstay of biodiversity
conservation as well as contributing to people’s livelihoods. Today, there are
approximately 200,000 protected areas in the world, which cover around 14.6% of
the world’s land and around 2.8% of the oceans.

Protected areas provide a wide range social,
environmental and economic benefits to people and communities worldwide. They
are a tried and tested approach that has been applied for centuries to conserve
nature and associated cultural resources by local communities, indigenous peoples,
governments and other organizations.

Protected areas:

·provide drinking water to one in three of the
world’s 100 largest cities;

·store the same amount of carbon as the tropical
rainforests;

·keep us healthy by being the source of clean air
and water, as well as new medicines;

·help reduce the risks and consequences of
extreme events such as floods, storm-surges, drought and sea-level rise;

·enhance food security by boosting fisheries and
preserving wild relatives of crops; and

·provide homes, jobs and livelihoods to millions
of people around the world.

Be part of the voyage of the Uto Ni Yalo to the World
Parks Congress: visit www.muavoyage.com.